Import And Export

Archflow project archives use the .archflow.gz format. Use them for backups, environment transfer, or sharing a model outside its current account.

Export Coverage

A full archive can include:

• Versions, Systems, hierarchy, and Relationships
• Architecture Views and their canvas state
• Workflows and step mappings
• Logical Data Models, including entities, attributes, constraints, usages, and entity relationships
• Behavior Models, groups, views, and workflow-behavior links
• Capability Maps, compositions, and realization links
• Deployments and deployment relationships
• Architecture Handbook profiles
• Context Map relationships and layout state
• Architecture Documents and View references
• Generated documentation and View selections

A version-specific export limits version-owned content to the selected version. The Export version action uses the standard resource selection; integrations that expose export options can choose a smaller set.

Data Models And Shared Contracts

Logical Data Models are included by default and can be controlled through the export options. Import remaps their identities, owners, usages, and relationships into the destination project. Older archives that did not contain a Data Model cannot restore that missing content.

Relationship contracts carry their canonical logical data selections. Linked workflow transitions inherit the remapped contract after import. Review the Data Model and representative workflow transitions together when validating a transfer.

Project access, account settings, provider credentials, MCP tokens, publication URLs, guest tokens, Project Knowledge sources, and Architecture Simulations should not be assumed to travel with the archive.

Export A Project

1. Confirm the project and select the intended source version.
2. Open Overview → Project utilities and choose Export version.
3. Wait for the export job to complete. This action includes the standard supported resource families for the selected version; it does not open an options dialog.
4. Download the resulting .archflow.gz file.
5. Store it according to the sensitivity of the architecture content.

An archive can contain internal topology, decisions, risks, and documentation. Treat it as confidential project data.

Import A Project

From Projects, choose the import action and upload a compatible archive. The importer remaps resource IDs so the new project does not reuse source identifiers.

After import:

1. Check version names and the active version.
2. Inspect system hierarchy and Relationships.
3. Open the Data Model, Workflows, Behavior Model, Capability Map, Deployments, and Views. Check shared contracts and data usages as well as resource counts.
4. Review the Handbook and Architecture Documents.
5. Recreate settings, access, tokens, knowledge sources, and other excluded state intentionally.

Import A Live Project As A System

Open Model → Project imports to compose the current version from another accessible project's active version. Review the resource coverage and source-update preview before applying. This is a different workflow from uploading a .archflow.gz archive.

See Project imports for hierarchy mapping, exclusions, update impact, and read-only source ownership.

Project Knowledge Is A Different Workflow

Uploading a source under Documentation → Project Knowledge extracts candidate architecture evidence; it does not restore a project archive.

Use Project Knowledge when bootstrapping from prose or maintaining evidence. Use project import when preserving structured Archflow resources and identity mappings.